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Right wing issue continues
Bordeaux's left-footed right winger Malcom was United's early January target before Alexis Sanchez became attainable. How to accommodate him in a Premier League fixture was the obvious quandary and Jose Mourinho did so by shifting Anthony Martial to the right flank, which was an obvious error.
It was to Martial's credit he fashioned a couple of openings during the first-half horror show and he still spent the majority of it on the fringes, as the enterprising Sanchez troubled Tottenham with his darts across the attacking line. Jesse Lingard did not vindicate the decision to keep him behind Romelu Lukaku.
Martial was the inevitable fall guy, given the Sanchez signing and Lingard's fabulous form. Lingard is perhaps the least talented of the trio and it was telling that at the start of the second half he was moved to the right and Martial occupied his favoured left wing berth. The irony is Martial was poorer there.
Lingard was substituted and Mo…

Manchester United voted against an early transfer window closure next year because of the 'disadvantage' Premier League clubs could suffer, according to Jose Mourinho.
Manchester United, Manchester City,
Swansea, West Ham, Crystal Palace and Watford were the only Premier
League clubs to vote against the proposal to close the 2018 summer
transfer window on the Thursday before the top-flight domestic season
starts, while another abstained. Fourteen clubs voted in favour of the
window closing on August 9.
Mourinho
had previously admitted he would be in favour of an early closure but
stressed United must refuse to deal with any prospective buyers after
the Premier League window shuts, since European clubs will be free to
sign Premier League players until the end of August.
"My thoughts are by the coach's point of view, Jose Mourinho
as the head coach of Manchester United," he said. "Obviously, I am in
favour of that because if I focus just on the tr…

The England
star admitted that prior to Lukaku’s arrival at United this summer, they
had never crossed paths, which makes their on-field relationship even
more remarkable.
“It’s just clicked, we’ve got that understanding,” Rashford told MUTV.
“We’d never met before his arrival, and we didn’t know what each other
were like, but when we got on the pitch together we just knew where each
other was.
“Hopefully we can keep growing the relationship more
and more. Obviously it’s only in the early stages, and the better we get
at playing together, the better the results will be for the team.”

Some
fans have even drawn comparisons between Rashford and Lukaku and
United’s prolific strike pairing from the Treble era, Dwight Yorke and
Andy Cole. However, the 19-year-old striker was keen not to get ahead of
himself, despite being flattered by the comparison.
“It would be
great if we could be like them,” Rashford said. “But the most important
thing is for us to work for the team toget…

There is some concern with a lack of preparation time for the weekend and Andreas Pereira is no longer available after his loan move to Valencia.
Luke Shaw and Ashley Young have had run-outs for the Under-23s, while
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcos Rojo remain on the sidelines.
"We have to wait and see," the manager told MUTV,
when asked for an update on the team news situation. "There is still
one more training session. Not every player has reported yet, so today
is the first time we are all together.
"I hope that these 15 days
without us being together and working together, doesn't affect us too
much," Mourinho added at his press conference. "I know it will affect
[us]. I know that one thing is a week working with the players and
working tactically and going through every principle of play to be ready
for the weekend match; another thing is to have the players away and
arriving step by step.
"I don't even see them all. Today is th…

Lukaku, 24, has scored four goals in his first three Manchester United starts but is set to face competition from 35-year-old Ibrahimovic when the Swede returns from injury later in the season.
United's
decision to re-sign Ibrahimovic has bolstered Mourinho's attack but
could also provide him with a dilemma as to who starts up front during
the run-in, when United will hope to be challenging for the Premier
League.
Mourinho
had already fielded over half-a-dozen questions on Ibrahimovic's return
before he was asked about whether Lukaku and Ibrahimovic could form a
successful axis.
"No," Mourinho replied, refusing to take any
more questions on Ibrahimovic. "In this moment they can speak on the
phone that is all they can do, not even face-to-face because he
[Ibrahimovic]’s not here."
Earlier, Mourinho said: "If we
progress in the Champions League and if we progress in one of the two
cups, I don’t even say both, if we do that we are going t…

Jose Mourinho does not expect Manchester United to clinch their fourth priority target before the transfer window closes.
MUFC Daily News understand that Mourinho had settled on signing a centre-back, a defensive midfielder, a winger and a striker ahead of the new season but United have failed to recruit a wide player so far.
Victor Lindelof, Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic have arrived but the club had bids rejected by Internazionale for Ivan Perisic and Danny Rose's flirtation could not persuade United to bid for the Tottenham left-back, despite their interest.
Mourinho said "Everyone knows I would like a fourth player and I can’t hide that
because I had it in my mind," Mourinho reiterated during his press
conference on Friday. "But I am happy if I am not going to have [a
fourth player] and I don’t think I am going to have.
"And I was
the first to tell my board not to feel any kind of pressure from me in
that respect, but probably next summer, I have to…

United's
decision to re-sign Ibrahimovic until the end of the current campaign
has bolstered an already enviable attack which has walloped West Ham and
Swansea 4-0 this month, while £75million signing Lukaku has hit four goals in three games.
The prolific Lukaku has started with Marcus Rashford, Henrikh Mkhitaryan
and Juan Mata in attack but Anthony Martial has struck twice as a
substitute and Paul Pogba already has more goals than he had in
mid-October last year.
Mourinho rarely plays two up front and
Ibrahimovic's return could provide him with a dilemma as to whether the
35-year-old, who has made just six substitute appearances in league and
Champions League matches throughout his career, plays second fiddle to
Lukaku.
"I see Zlatan as important for the team," Mourinho said. " I just say
that my squad is better for sure, he is one more option, he is one more
striker, he is one more experienced player, he is one more player that
can play nine or 1…

The
22-year-old left-back had not played in any sort of match since
damaging ligaments against Swansea City at Old Trafford in April, but he
gladly made his return to action at Leigh Sports Village as Ricky Sbragia’s youngsters secured a 1-1 draw, coincidentally against the Swans' youth side.
Shaw
played for 59 minutes on Monday and so too did Ashley Young, who had
also been sidelined through injury since picking up a serious hamstring
problem in last season’s UEFA Europa League semi-final first leg tie at
Celta Vigo in Spain, rendering Monday an important night for the duo.
“I’m feeling really good and I only push on from here,” a smiling Shaw told MUTV
after the final whistle. “I’m looking for the first-team spot now, I’m
going to keep pushing, and when the manager needs me I’m going to be
ready. Whenever that is, I’m really looking forward to it. I’d rather it
was sooner rather than later, but I’m feeling good and whenever I’m
called upon, I’m ready.
“I was very ha…

Manchester United can
win the title this season because they have the experience and balance
in their squad to go all the way, according to club legend Ryan Giggs.
Following two consecutive 4-0 wins, against both West Ham and Swansea, Jose Mourinho's side have made their best start to a league season since 1907.
New signings Nemanja Matic and Romelu Lukaku have hit the ground running and already caught the eye at this early stage of the season.
And
Giggs feels that with Mourinho in charge, and a squad filled with power
and creativity, his former side can finally end their title drought.
"I
think it was documented when the fixtures came out, while there’s no
easy games in the Premier League, it was a pretty good start for
Manchester United and the team have delivered with two 4-0 wins," he
wrote for Sky Sports.
"When Jose Mourinho’s
sides get going they are very difficult to stop. He’s done in the past
and, while it’s important dealing with the expectation…

Anthony Martial believes his Manchester United
team-mate Paul Pogba is “probably the best midfield player in the
world”, who could become a Ballon d’Or winner within five years.
Martial made that claim while speaking to MUTV
last month for an upcoming documentary about Pogba, who has since made
an excellent start to the season by scoring two goals and setting up
four others in the consecutive 4-0 Premier League wins over West Ham
United and Swansea City.
The stage is certainly set for Pogba to
enjoy a successful second season under Jose Mourinho's management,
following a 2016/17 campaign that yielded 53 appearances, nine goals and
three trophies.
Martial feels his friend has all of the physical
and mental attributes that are needed to become the world’s best
player, as he told us: “Paul is very mentally strong and he is very sure
of himself.
“He is a big guy, he is very technical on the ball
and he has lots of endurance,” Martial continued. “I would say he is
proba…

Three Premier League goals in two matches for £75m striker Lukaku and
a man of the match opening day award for the Serbian midfielder who has
cemented his role as an influential on-field figure at Old Trafford.
And Henrikh Mkhitaryan has pinpointed the reason why at least two of manager Jose Mourinho 's £140m summer investments have made a major impact immediately.
But Mkhitaryan promised United were not getting ahead of themselves, saying: 'Let's not rush because it's only two games played.
We still have 36 games to play in the
Premier League. So let's go just step by step to try and win every game
and at the end see where we arrive.'
Summer
signings Lukaku and Nemanja Matic have both hit the ground running
after making respective moves from Everton and Chelsea.
Lukaku
has scored three goals in two games and Matic has been a towering
midfield figure in screening the back four and getting United on the
front foot.
Mkhitaryan's own performances, …

Roy Keane insists it was only his decision to appeal a fine that led to his Manchester United departure.
Then club captain, Keane left Old Trafford
in acrimonious fashion in 2005, following a controversial interview
with MUTV about a 4-1 defeat to Middlesbrough when he criticised the
performance of a number of his teammates.
Although the interview was pulled, tensions had been brewing between Keane and Sir Alex Ferguson , and the midfielder had his contract cancelled in November 2005, and the following month he was confirmed as a Celtic player.
But
Keane now insists that his exit from United was not to do with a row
with Ferguson, but instead cited his decision to appeal the £5,000 fine
he received for doing the interview.
He told the Limerick Leader : “The only reason I ended up leaving Man United was I appealed a £5,000 fine.
“If I hadn’t appealed the fine I wouldn’t have left Man United.
“Don’t be brainwashed by the propaganda and lies. It is peanuts, you get fined th…

A late Manchester United swoop for Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic is fading fast.
The
Croatian's boss Luciano Spalletti said the 28-year-old has not shown
any new signs that he wants to leave Inter, despite United manager Jose Mourinho being linked with him all summer.
“Since
the start, the club spoke with Ivan, as did I, he came and told us some
things, because you need specific characteristics to stay here. We must
all be ready to listen to how everyone else sees things,” said
Spalletti.
“Perisic
is a great player, in the vein of Giacinto Facchetti, Javier Zanetti
and Marco Materazzi, a leader who gives something more than an
individual usually does.
“After this initial discussion, I never had any more signals of a departure, in training or outside of it.
“Ivan is someone who has his own training schedule after the session
is finished, working in the gym, and is one of the most professional
players I've met.
“He does something that only those who have a
real se…